Method and system for updating physical location information

ABSTRACT

A method and system for updating physical location data associated with a VoIP endpoint device is implemented in a variety of embodiments. In one such embodiment, a VoIP endpoint device stores an identifier for a packet-communicating device which is subject to changing. The VoIP endpoint device has an interface for communication over the Internet via the packet-communicating device and uses a circuit-implemented method for prompting a VoIP user to update physical location data associated with the VoIP endpoint device. In response to a power state transition and a change in the stored identifier, the VoIP endpoint device facilitates an update to the physical location data associated with the VoIP service.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to Voice-Over-Internet Protocol(VoIP) telephony systems and the notification to VoIP customers thattheir physical location information must be updated with their serviceprovider.

BACKGROUND

Telephony services are offered through a variety of avenues, such aslandline phones, cellular phones, and more recently, Voice-Over-InternetProtocol (VoIP). VoIP is a relatively new telephony service thatprovides communications using Internet protocols rather than thetraditional telephone service. VoIP service allows calls to be made to,and received from, traditional phone numbers using a high-speed(broadband) Internet connection (i.e., DSL, cable modem, or broadbandwireless technology) instead of using the traditional telephonecommunication lines. VoIP is implemented by either placing an adapterbetween a traditional phone and broadband connection or by using aspecial VoIP phone that connects to a computer or Internet connection.

Traditional wireline phone services have generally associated aparticular phone number with the fixed physical location of thecorresponding telephone line. Cellular telephony services determine acellular caller's physical location by associating the cellular phonewith the physical location of the cellular network antenna with whichthe cellular customer's radio (telephone) is communicating. VoIPservices, however, enable consumers to take their home or business phoneservice almost anywhere because VoIP services can be used from virtuallyany broadband connection anywhere in the world. This portability raisesa number of challenges for the emergency services community in that itmakes determining the location of a VoIP caller extremely difficult, ifnot impossible, because the only information transmitted across theInternet from VoIP callers is the Internet Protocol (IP) addressesassociated with the call traffic. Currently there is not a reliablemeans of mapping an IP address to a precise physical location anywherein the world.

Emergency 911 calls from a traditional telephone are usually sent toemergency service providers who are responsible for helping people in aparticular geographic area or community. These emergency serviceproviders often can automatically identify the caller's location anddirect the closest emergency personnel to that location. They also oftenautomatically identify the caller's telephone number so that the callercan be reached in the event the emergency call is disconnected.

Consumers with VoIP telephone service have experienced problemsaccessing 911 emergency services in the same manner as traditionalcommunication services due to the lack of any physical locationinformation associated with their telephone. In some instances, theseproblems were caused by the consumer failing to provide certaininformation (such as physical location information) to their VoIPprovider in order for their VoIP provider to be able to set up 911service or the consumer moving their VoIP service to another locationwithout updating their physical location information with the VoIPservice provider.

One proposed approach for alleviating these problems involves acommunication cycle between a VoIP telephone adapter and a communicationnetwork where the VoIP telephone adapter communicates with the networkonce every twenty-four hours. Every time the telephone adapter isdisconnected from a power source and reconnected, it communicates withthe network to “check in,” and the communication cycle is reset. Thenetwork then identifies that the cycle has been reset and recognizesthat this could mean that the VoIP telephone adapter, and consequentlythe customer, has changed locations. Therefore, upon detection of ashift in the communication cycle, the network temporarily suspends thecustomer's service and posts a message at the customer's web portaldirecting the customer to confirm the existing registered physicallocation information or to register a new physical address. Any callsattempted before this physical location information has been confirmedor changed are intercepted and require the caller to confirm or changethe physical location information before a call can be completed. Thissuspension of service does not affect 911 calls, which continue to beassociated with the previously registered physical location information.

This approach is dependent upon the timing of the communication signalfrom the telephone adapter and burdens the consumer by denying phoneservice until the physical location information is resolved. Further,this approach is initiated, for example, every time a customer powerson/off their system, loses power, reboots the router, or loses Internetconnectivity; therefore the customer loses phone service after each ofthese occurrences, which in many cases are not the result of a locationchange and instead create a “false positive” trigger. Thisinconveniences the customer by suspending telephone serviceunnecessarily.

The above and other difficulties continue to present challenges toproviding effective emergency 911 telephone services and protecting thepublic safety.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to overcoming the above-mentionedchallenges and others related to the types of devices and applicationsdiscussed above. These and other aspects of the present invention areexemplified in a number of illustrated implementations and applications,some of which are shown in the figures and characterized in the claimssection that follows.

In one embodiment, the VoIP endpoint device stores an identifier for apacket-based communicating device which is subject to changing. The VoIPendpoint device has an interface for communication over the Internet viathe packet-based communicating device, and a circuit-implemented methodfor prompting a VoIP user to update physical location data associatedwith the VoIP endpoint device. In response to a power state transitionand a change in the stored identifier, the VoIP endpoint devicefacilitates an update to the physical location data associated with theVoIP service.

In another example embodiment, a method includes a VoIP endpoint devicethat stores a previously-obtained router address and has an interfacefor communication with a router providing a current router address. Themethod prompts a VoIP user to update physical location data which isassociated with the VoIP endpoint device and useful for an emergencyservices provider. To this end, the method determines that an endpointdevice has experienced a power state transition. In response to thepower state transition and as a function of the stored router address,the method determines whether the stored router address corresponds tothe current router address. Upon determining that stored router addressdoes not correspond to the current router address, the user is promptedto update the physical location data associated with the VoIP service.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an endpointdevice is used in connection with a VoIP telephony service that promptsa VoIP user to update physical location data associated with the user'sVoIP service. The physical location data may be useful to an emergencyservices provider. The endpoint device includes non-volatile memory forstoring a previously-obtained node address and a programmable circuitadapted to compare with the previously-obtained node address and todetermine whether the current node address is different from thepreviously-obtained node address.

The above summary of the present invention is not intended to describeeach illustrated embodiment or every implementation of the presentinvention. The figures and detailed description that follow moreparticularly exemplify these embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be more completely understood in consideration of thedetailed description of various embodiments of the invention thatfollows in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram for determining whether physical location datashould be updated with a VoIP service, according to an exampleembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method for updating the physicallocation data for a VoIP user, according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a VoIP device that prompts a VoIP user toupdate the physical location data of the user, according to exampleembodiments of the present invention.

While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternativeforms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in thedrawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood,however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to theparticular embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is believed to be useful for aidingemergency-service providers in responding to VoIP telephone users byautomatically prompting VoIP users to update their VoIP endpointdevice's physical location data with their VoIP service. While thepresent invention is not necessarily limited to such applications,various aspects of the invention may be appreciated through a discussionof various examples using this context.

In an example embodiment of the present invention, a VoIP endpointdevice recognizes a power-up situation and determines whether theendpoint device has changed geographic locations since the endpointdevice's previous power-up. This determination is based on a change inan identifier corresponding to a packet-communicating device throughwhich the VoIP endpoint device communicates. If there is no change inthe identifier, the endpoint device has not changed locations;therefore, it is not necessary for the endpoint device's user to updatethe VoIP endpoint device's physical location data with the VoIP serviceprovider. If, however, the identifier has changed, the endpoint devicedetermines that it has moved to a new location and generates an outputcorresponding to the determination. This output may be used, forexample, to prompt the user to update the device's physical locationdata with the VoIP service provider via a VoIP server.

The packet-communications device may communicate using packets of fixedlength or variable length. The format of the packets may conform to anyacceptable packet-based protocol and may vary based upon the VoIPservice provider or other factors. In a specific example, thepacket-based communications device may communicate using packetsconforming to Internet-based protocols, such as IP-related packets.

The VoIP endpoint device is typically connected to a local communicationdevice, such as a router or gateway that has one or more identifiers,such as media access control (“MAC”) addresses and IP addresses. MACaddresses are by design typically unique for each communications deviceand often static for a particular device. For this reason, a change in aMAC address of the local communications device is often associated withthe physical movement of the VoIP endpoint device. In some instances,however, the communications device may be moved with the VoIP endpointdevice. For example, in many homes Internet users have their own routerwhich they may take with them to a new location. In these instances, theMAC address of the router might not change when the VoIP device isphysically moved.

In another embodiment, the VoIP device may use an IP address todetermine a possible change in location. In a specific example, the widearea network (“WAN”) address of a local communications device is used todetermine if the VoIP device has been moved. The WAN address is usuallydetermined by the upstream Internet-service-provider's location, andtherefore, is subject to change when the VoIP device is moved.

In yet another embodiment, the VoIP device may use both the WAN and MACaddresses when determining whether the VoIP device has moved. Forinstance, if the MAC address has changed, it may be determined that theVoIP device has changed physical location regardless of the WAN address.Alternatively, if the MAC address has not changed but the WAN addresshas changed, it may be determined that the device has changed physicallocations. Accordingly, the VoIP device may use other combinations ofchanges in the WAN and MAC address.

The aforementioned examples are not meant to be limiting. For example,various other device identifiers may be used, as well as using onlyportions of device identifiers (e.g., determining if a subnet of the WANaddress has changed).

FIG. 1 shows a system and approach for updating the physical locationdata associated with a VoIP endpoint device, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention. Data is communicated amonga VoIP endpoint device 110, an internet routing device 112, the Internet114, a VoIP host server 116, and at least one emergency-service provider118. When a VoIP endpoint device 110 experiences a power-up, it requeststhe address of the internet routing device 112 to which the endpointdevice 110 is coupled. In one embodiment, the endpoint device 110includes a processor that upon initialization (power-up) requests theaddress of the current internet routing device 112. In anotherembodiment, a circuit is designed to detect a power transition resultingin the endpoint device requesting the address of routing device 112. Theendpoint device 110 uses this router address as an identifier for theinternet routing device 112, and consequently, a potential change inlocation of endpoint device 110. The endpoint device 110 compares thiscurrent router address to a router address stored in the endpoint device110.

While a variety of geographic identifiers may be contemplated, aspecific example is an internet routing MAC address. Since an internetrouting device's MAC address uniquely identifies the routing device, theinternet routing device's MAC address is useful for determining when theendpoint device 110 has been connected to a different router. In anotherembodiment, the endpoint device 110 may request the WAN address of therouter or the gateway of the local ISP. This WAN is typically an IPaddress that corresponds to the local ISP, and thus, a change in the WANindicates that the endpoint device 110 has been moved. In an alternateembodiment, the endpoint device 110 may use both the MAC and WANaddresses when determining whether the endpoint device 110 has beenmoved. The remainder of this document refers to a MAC address fordiscussion purposes only and is not intended to limit the identifierused.

The router MAC address that was stored in the endpoint device's storage120 was the router MAC address of the endpoint device 110 before themost recent power-up. Therefore, based upon the MAC address comparison,the endpoint device can determine whether it changed locations, e.g.,via coupling to an internet routing device at a different network node,before the most recent power-up. After the router MAC address comparisonis complete and before the endpoint device experiences another power-up,the current router MAC address is stored and replaces thepreviously-stored router MAC address to perpetuate the process. Asdiscussed above, the WAN address of the local gateway may also be used(alone or in conjunction with the MAC address) to determine whether theendpoint device 110 has changed locations.

In another embodiment, further inspection can be performed upon the WANaddress. For example, if the WAN address is within a certain subset ofaddresses, the WAN address of a subsequent node can be used. An examplesubset might include WAN addresses that correspond to a private range ofaddresses because private addresses are sometimes duplicated. Forinstance, two local networks in different locations might both use theprivate IP range of 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255. Examples of otherprivate IP ranges include 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 to172.31.255.255 and 169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255. Thus, if the WANaddress happens to be located within a certain subset of addresses, theVoIP device can obtain the WAN address of a subsequent node in a packettransmission path. This second WAN address can be used to determinewhether the device has potentially changed locations.

When the location update circuit 122 performs the comparison anddetermines that the current router MAC address is not the same as thestored router MAC address, the endpoint device prompts the device's userto update the device's physical location data. The user enters theupdated information via the endpoint device 110 and the location data istransmitted via the internet routing device 112 and the Internet 114 tothe VoIP host server 116. The information may be entered audibly or bythe user keying in the updated location information. The updatedinformation is then available to emergency-service providers, e.g., 118,when a 911 VoIP call is placed from the endpoint device 110.

In other implementations, the endpoint device 110 has a display 124where the user may key in the location data to a webpage. Examples ofsuch endpoint devices are stationary computers, portable computers,video-phones, and web-enabled cellular phones. One such implementationincludes the endpoint device redirecting a user to a webpage once therouter address comparison indicates that the endpoint device 110 hasmoved. Another implementation includes the endpoint device redirecting auser attempting to place an outgoing call to a physical location datapage for entry or verification of the location data before the outgoingcall is permitted.

FIG. 2 shows a method for prompting a user to update the user's physicallocation with the user's VoIP service, according to another exampleembodiment. At block 210, the user's endpoint device, which can be, forexample, a VoIP telephone, a standard telephone with an adapter, acomputer (portable or stationary), or a cellular phone, determines thatthe device has been powered-up. The power-up may, for example, be aresult of a power outage, a router reboot, or reconnection of the deviceafter it was unplugged. At block 212, the device determines the currentrouter address and compares this current router address with a routeraddress that was previously stored in the device's non-volatile memorybefore power-up. This previously-stored router address was the endpointdevice's previous router address prior to the power-up. The endpointdevice compares the two router addresses to determine whether thecurrent router address is the same as the previous router address atblock 215. This comparison identifies whether the endpoint device hasmoved physical locations. If the router addresses are the same, theendpoint device determines that it has not moved to a different physicallocation; and therefore, no update of the physical location data isnecessary. In contrast, if the router addresses are different, theendpoint device determines that it has moved to a different locationwhich requires the user to provide the VoIP service with the newphysical location data so that emergency services, if needed, are routedto the appropriate location.

If both addresses are the same, the endpoint device alters an indicatoron the endpoint device at block 220 to signify to the user that theirVoIP service is current, 911 emergency service is available, and noupdate of the physical location data is necessary. The indicator may,for example, be a light or LED that changes colors or changes a flashingcadence. The indicator could also be an audible or vibratory indicator.

If the router addresses are different, the endpoint device alerts theVoIP host server. The host server redirects outgoing calls to aninteractive voice response (IVR) system to prompt the user to update thephysical location at block 225. At block 225, the endpoint device alsoalters the endpoint indicator so that the user is alerted to the need toupdate the physical location before the user attempts to make anoutgoing call. Another implementation includes redirecting the user to aweb-page for entering the updated physical location data, such as whenthe endpoint device includes a display.

In one embodiment, the host server may also determine that the physicallocation information for one or more VoIP devices does not need to beupdated even though the VoIP devices have indicated otherwise to theserver. For example, if an administrator or ISP replaces a router thatprovides service to several VoIP devices, each of those devices maydetermine, after a power state transition, that their physical locationhas likely changed. The host server can be configured to detect thatmultiple VoIP devices have been affected by such a change andproactively determine that the physical location information does notneed to be updated.

At block 230, the server determines whether the physical location datahas been updated. If the address has been updated, the endpointindicator is altered in the same manner as block 220 at block 235. Ifthe address has not yet been updated, the endpoint indicator maintainsthe alert status at block 240 until the user updates the physicallocation data.

In another implementation, the endpoint device additionally sends thetime the device powered-up, the uptime, to the VoIP server upon sensinga power-up. This may be sent in the header of an INVITE transmission.The server converts the uptime to an endpoint device start date (andoptionally time) and compares the start date to the date that thephysical location data was last updated. If the endpoint device startdate is later than the location-update date, the user's physicallocation data likely needs to be updated. The intervening power-up taskindicates that the endpoint device may have moved locations. As aresult, outgoing calls are redirected to an IVR as discussed inconnection with block 225. Outgoing calls may be redirected based uponthe comparison of the start date to the date that the physical locationdata was last updated, the router addresses, or as a function of bothcomparisons. Once the physical location data is updated, or verified asbeing unchanged, the location-update date will also be updated. If thelocation-update date is later than the endpoint device start date, theserver recognizes that the physical location data has already beenupdated and further updating is not required.

FIG. 3 shows an endpoint device 300 adapted to automatically prompt aVoIP user to update his or her physical location data according toanother example embodiment. The endpoint device 300 works with a VoIPtelephone service that allows calls to be made to, and received from,traditional phone numbers using a high-speed (broadband) Internetconnection (i.e., DSL, cable modem, or broadband wireless technology).The VoIP endpoint device 300 is connected to the Internet 302 via arouter 304 that has a MAC address. The endpoint device communicates withthe router through a SIP conversion interface 306. The MAC routeraddress is stored in non-volatile memory 308, which is controlled andaccessed by a memory controller 310.

A power sensing circuit 312 detects when the endpoint device hasexperienced a power state transition, more specifically, when the devicehas experienced a power-up. The power sensing circuit 312 communicatesthese transitions to the memory controller 310 so that upon apower-down, the memory controller 310 stores the MAC router address inmemory 308. Similarly, upon power-up, the memory controller 310 accessesmemory 308 to provide the router MAC address to processing circuitry320, which performs a comparison of the current MAC router address withthe MAC router address that was stored in memory 308 upon power-down.

The endpoint device 300 also has a user interface 314 that can include,for example, a keypad, audio receiver, and a display screen. Theendpoint device 300 also has audio circuitry 316 for receiving andtransmitting audio. Further, the endpoint device has a router addressupdate indicator 318. The indicator 318 is preferably a visual indicatorin the form of a light or LED. The indicator 318 may change colorsdepending on the status of the physical location data or preferablyflashes at difference cadences to indicate the status. For example, aLED could slowly blink when the server is searching for an IP address,remain steady when no emergency service is available (such as atlocations outside the United States), blink quickly when the physicallocation data needs to be updated as determined by the endpoint device,and pulse at two quick blinks every other second when the physicallocation data is up-to-date and the VoIP service is current andfunctional.

While certain aspects of the present invention have been described withreference to several particular example embodiments, those skilled inthe art will recognize that many changes may be made thereto withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Aspects ofthe invention are set forth in the following claims.

1. For use in providing emergency services in response to a Voice overInternet Protocol (VoIP) endpoint device having circuitry that stores aMedia Access Control (MAC) identifier for a packet-communicating devicewhich is subject to changing and stores a Wide Area Network (WAN)address for the packet-communicating device, and that has an interfacefor communication over the Internet via the packet-communicating device,a circuit-implemented method for prompting a VoIP user to updatephysical location data associated with the VoIP endpoint device, themethod comprising: in response to a power state transition, determininga current WAN address by one of: obtaining an Internet Protocol (IP)address of one of the packet-communicating device and a local gatewayconnected to the packet-communicating device; and obtaining, in responseto a determination that the current WAN address is in a private range of(IP) addresses, an IP address of a subsequent node in a packettransmission path originating from the endpoint device; and in responseto the power state transition and the circuitry detecting a change in atleast one of the stored WAN address and the stored MAC identifier,generating an output from the circuitry to facilitate an update of thephysical location data associated with a VoIP host server via the VoIPendpoint device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the change in thestored MAC identifier is detected by receiving an identifier from thepacket-communicating device and comparing the received identifier to anidentifier stored prior to the power state transition.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the packet-communicating device uses IP packets.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the step of facilitating an update to thephysical location data includes requesting the physical location datafrom a user of the VoIP endpoint device.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the step of facilitating an update to the physical location dataincludes sending an indication of a time of the power state transitionto a server for comparison to the time of a most recent previousphysical location update.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein in responseto the comparison, communications from the VoIP endpoint device aredirected to a physical location update interface.
 7. The method of claim6, wherein the physical location update interface is an interactivevoice response system.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the physicallocation update interface is a website.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the MAC identifier is for a router.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the stored WAN address is for a gateway.
 11. The method of claim3, wherein the stored MAC identifier is for a router and the stored WANaddress is for a gateway.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the powerstate transition is a transition from a powered down state to a poweredup state and the VoIP endpoint device includes a processor thatdetermines the change in the stored MAC identifier upon power-up. 13.The method of claim 1, further including the steps of: contacting anemergency service provider using the VoIP endpoint device; and providingthe emergency service provider with the physical location data.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the physical location data corresponds to astreet address where the VoIP device is currently in use.
 15. The methodof claim 13, wherein the emergency services are 911 emergency services.16. For use in a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) endpoint devicethat stores a previously-obtained router Media Access Control (MAC)address and Wide Area Network (WAN) address and has an interface forcommunication with a router providing a current router address, acircuit-implemented method for prompting a VoIP user to update physicallocation data associated with the VoIP endpoint device and useful for aVoIP host server to provide to an emergency services provider, themethod comprising: determining that an endpoint device has experienced apower state transition; determining a current router WAN address by oneof: obtaining a WAN address of one of the router and a local gatewayconnected to the router; and obtaining an IP address of a subsequentnode in a packet transmission path in response to a determination thatthe WAN address is in a private range of Internet Protocol (IP)addresses; in response to the power state transition determination,determining, as a function of the stored router MAC address, whether thestored router MAC address corresponds to the current router MAC address,and determining, as a function of the stored WAN address, whether thestored WAN address corresponds to the current WAN address; and inresponse to determining that at least one of the stored router MACaddress and stored WAN address does not correspond to the current routeraddress and current WAN address, respectively, prompting the user viathe VoIP endpoint device to update the physical location data associatedwith the VoIP host server.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein promptingthe user to update the physical location data associated with the VoIPhost server includes modifying a flashing cadence of a visual indicatoron the endpoint device.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the privaterange of IP addresses includes: 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255; 10.0.0.0to 10.255.255.255; 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255, and 169.254.0.0 to169.254.255.255.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the WAN addressesare IP addresses.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein prompting the userto update the physical location data associated with the VoIP hostserver includes vibrating the endpoint device.
 21. The method of claim16, wherein prompting the user to update the physical location dataassociated with the VoIP host server includes automatically directingthe user to a web page for inputting updated physical location data. 22.The method of claim 16, wherein prompting the user to update thephysical location data associated with the VoIP host server includesautomatically directing the user to an interactive voice response systemfor inputting updated physical location data.
 23. The method of claim16, wherein prompting the user to update the physical location dataassociated with the VoIP host server includes automatically directingthe user to a web page for inputting updated physical location data andat least one of modifying a flashing cadence of a visual indicator onthe endpoint device, transmitting an audio prompt, and vibrating theendpoint device.
 24. An endpoint device for use in connection with aVoice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony service that prompts aVoIP user to update physical location data stored at a VoIP host serverand associated with the user's VoIP service that is useful to anemergency services provider, the endpoint device comprising:non-volatile memory for storing a previously-obtained node MAC addressand a previously-obtained Wide Area Network (WAN) address; and aprogrammable circuit adapted to request a current node MAC address froma node in response to power-up of the endpoint device; receive thecurrent node MAC address from the node; compare the current requestednode MAC address with the previously-obtained node address and todetermine whether the current node address is different from thepreviously-obtained node address; obtain a current WAN address; andobtain an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a subsequent node in apacket transmission path in response to a determination that the currentWAN address is in a private range of IP addresses; and provide, inresponse to determining that either the current node MAC address isdifferent from the previously-obtained node MAC address or the currentWAN address is different from the previously-obtained WAN address, aprompt to the VoIP user at the endpoint device to update physicallocation data stored at a VoIP server and associated with the user'sVoIP service.
 25. The endpoint device of claim 24, wherein theprogrammable circuit is adapted to determine that the current WANaddress is in the private range of IP addressed by comparing the currentWAN address to a set of addresses stored in the non-volatile memory. 26.The endpoint device of claim 25, wherein the programmable circuit isadapted to determine whether current WAN address is within one of the IPaddress ranges: 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255; 10.0.0.0 to10.255.255.255; 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255, and 169.254.0.0 to169.254.255.255.
 27. The endpoint device of claim 24, wherein thecurrent node MAC address and the previously-obtained node MAC addressare for a router.
 28. The endpoint device of claim 24, wherein theprogrammable circuit includes a processor and memory.
 29. The endpointdevice of claim 24, further including a broadband interface adapted tosend an indication to another device in response to the programmablecircuit determining that the current node MAC address is different fromthe previously-obtained node MAC address.
 30. The endpoint device ofclaim 24, further including, an arrangement for providing the emergencyservice provider with the physical location data in response to theendpoint device contacting the emergency service provider.